TVS Racing Factory rider Harith Noah posts 26th rank with resilience
Completes Stage 8 successfully at Dakar Rally 2022
Wadi Ad Dawasir(Saudi Arabia), 10 Jan, 2022: TVS Racing Factory rider Harith Naoh pocketed another stage as he showed enough resilience after initial hiccups and conquered Stage 8 in his inimitable style pushing hard towards the end as he gained two more positions in the overall ranking. The Kerala ace is sitting pretty at 26th position in the general rankings after finishing 26thon Monday. The stage was won by Sam Sunderland of Great Britain. Noah clocked 4 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds to complete the timed special of almost 400 km.
Hero MotoSport, the other Indian team in the fray, had a good stage too. Read the Report here.
Watch the Day’s highlights here: Stage 8, Jan 10, 2022.
Starting at 22ndat 8 a.m. (IST) today and treading a cautious path for the first 86 km in the long liaisons, and action-packed dunes, the 5-time Indian National Supercross champion saw the trek to southern Saudi Arabia and its tough sands, drag on and lost about 10 places. Undaunted, he progressed later on, even as the minds and bodies of the competitors were put to a hard test. Noah, attacked the next 200 kms of the special, and by waypoint 6, he moved up and further improved thereafter as he jumped from one valley to another. Eventually, the landscapes changed and the tough negotiator ended up the day in a respectable 26th in the stage after traversing a distance of 820 km, that got him an overall 26th, two places better than the previous day.
Competing in RallyGP, the premier class of the Moto section in the 44th Dakar Rally, Harith Noah, who had a tough first week due to extreme cold conditions and a couple of falls, has come into his own and looking forward to the last four stages.
Astride a Sherco 450 SEF Rally Shoranur rider said: “I enjoyed the stage for the second day running and I am getting into my rhythm. It was a long and tough day but I like tricky navigation like this stage. I am still in the race and glad to fighting another stage tommorrow.”
Noah’s teammate at Sherco Rally Factory team Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino is in overall 7th place while other Sherco rider Rui Goncalves of Portugal is a position behind Noah in 27th. Meanwhile, Hero MotoSports, the other Indian two-wheeler manufacturer in the 140-plus Moto field, saw their lead rider Joaquim Rodrigues from Portugal in Overall 15th place while Aaron Mare of South Africa is place 17th in the General overall ranking.
Sherco story:
| It was the second long day in this 2022 Dakar. The special was 395 km with a 435 km link that the riders had to race today on some difficult and fast terrain. All of them gave 100% in the dunes and on the fast tracks towards Wadi Ad Dawasir, and at the same time keeping a close eye on the roadbook. This evening they brought the motorcycles back to the bivouac in perfect condition, a luxury after such a day. |
| Lorenzo Santolino started 5th this morning and was the author of some outstanding navigation on a particularly tricky special, between dunes and fast tracks. Following the prerace instructions, he actually backed off a little to preserve his motorcycle he did give up some time at the finish. He finished 20th today and is in 7th place in the general classification. ¡Vamos Santo! Rui Goncalves had a good special. He finished 14th for the day, he is still fighting to move up in the general classification, he did manage to move up 3 places. He is now right behind Harith Noah in 27th place. After his great performance yesterday, Harith Noah really switched to rally mode. He rode clean and consistent and finished the day in 26th place. He is also in this position in the general classification. The top 20 is getting closer! After a perfect day yesterday, our 3 riders faced a very complicated program today. Lorenzo lost a few minutes overall, but the days go by and are not the same every day in the Dakar. Our riders followed the instructions of the team manager David Casteu, the riders and mechanics know how to preserve and maintain the machines perfectly. And they still have all 3 bikes in the race. Everyone in the Sherco camp is at the dawn of the second week of racing which still has some great stages in store. |
Dakar Rally 2022 (Stage 8) Provisional Classification:
1. #3 Sam Sunderland (Britain) (Gas Gas Factory) 03Hours 48min 02seconds;
2. #7 Pablo Quintanilla (Chile) (Monster Energy Honda); 03H 50’ 55”; +02’ 53”;
3. #52 Mathias Walkner (Austria) (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing); 03H 52′ 13″; +4′ 11″;
26. #20 Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 4H 12’30”; +00H 24’28”;
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 8)
1. #3 Sam Sunderland (Britain) (Gas Gas Factory) 27Hours 38min 42seconds;
2. #52 Mathias Walkner (Austria) (Red Bull KTM Factory Team); 27H 42’ 27”; +03’ 45”;
3. #42 Adrian van Beveren (France) (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally); 27H 43’ 25”;+4′ 43″;
26. #20 Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 29H, 50’ 47”; +2H 12’ 05”.
